Enemy Front, the World War II first-person shooter from Polish publisher City Interactive, has seen some significant tonal changes since its departure of creative director Stuart Black in late 2012.

Previously described by the Black and Bodycount lead as "beat-based arcade action", Enemy Front has moved away from its Inglourious Basterds roots and towards something more serious, in part due to its new focus on the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.

"That original version was gritty, grungy, almost steampunk-esque," executive producer Steve Hart told Digital Spy. "This is much more serious and historically accurate in places.

"Introducing the Warsaw Uprising, it's closer to the hearts of the company and the team as well. It's natural that it takes a more serious tone now."

Enemy Front's story now focuses on a photojournalist covering the war, with missions jumping between the 63-day Warsaw Uprising and flashbacks across the frontline in France, Germany and the Netherlands.

But don't let his occupation fool you; the hero is very much a combatant that takes part in the war effort. One mission in France sees him go behind enemy lines, from farmhouse to farmhouse, taking down sentries to secure a resistance contact to help him with a scoop.

Unfortunately, Enemy Front doesn't play on his role as a photojournalist at all. The ability to take snaps with a camera in the field was considered, but ended up being a "secondary or tertiary mechanic", Hart explained, and was eventually scrapped.

This leads to some jarring moments between story and action scenes. One example sees the hero run into danger with a camera at the end of the cutscene, only to pop up with a gun when control resumes in first-person. While it's explained he has prior combat experience, such transitions are far from coherent.

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Instead, playing as a journalist is used as an effective means for the campaign to easily jump across Europe, with a story that starts with him "arrogant" and focused on the scoop, before mellowing as the war tears the continent and its people apart.

While we won't see how this arc plays out until the finished product, as for how it plays, Enemy Front is a run-and-gun shooter that appears to take inspiration from a variety of sources.

There's Far Cry 3-style spotting of troops with binoculars so they're then flagged on screen, the opportunity to sneak around and hide bodies and Call of Duty-style breaches where you bash through a door and clear the room of Nazis in slow motion.

However, tactics and planning seemed unnecessary when you can quickly pounce on bumbling enemies that are slow to react to your presence, and ducking behind cover seemed pointless when you can soak up a large amount of bullets.

While moment-to-moment the action seemed underwhelming from what we played, and it looks to squander its journalist hook in the story, at the very least Enemy Front looks pretty - especially when running on a PC - thanks to its CryEngine technology and strong art direction.

It gives the game an almost dreamlike quality at times, with the French resistance mission taking place in an idyllic village set in lush, green rolling hills basked in sunlight.

"In the Warsaw levels, we have that brown, black, grey palate that every World War II game has ever had, but once you get out of that - when you go to these flashback levels in Norway and France and Germany - that gets turned on its head," said Hart.

He continued: "It's in complete contrast to any World War II game I've ever played, and it gives the title a really distinct look.

"When I was speaking to Greg, the art director, he was saying his single ambition was to make sure that whenever a screen or capture of the game was made, people could look at it and immediately say 'That's Enemy Front'.

"He's achieved that, and to make it within a World War II title makes it all the more remarkable."

Enemy Front is available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC from June 13 in Europe and June 10 in North America.